Treatment for a Stye or Chalazia

Although the two are different conditions that develop for different reasons, some of the treatments are the same, in particular, the home care aspect of the treatment process. For instance, our ophthalmologist may recommend you refrain from wearing makeup with either condition, but especially if you have a stye, since the makeup could irritate the infection. Not to mention, you’ll contaminate your makeup with the bacteria.

The eye doctor may recommend refraining from wearing makeup if you have chalazia, so you avoid irritating it when you apply the makeup. To relieve the soreness or reduce swelling, our ophthalmologist might recommend a warm compress for either condition. It’s usually best not to wear contacts when you have a lump on your eye. Never or squeeze or pop the bump. You could spread the infection or cause the bump to heal improperly. 

Both conditions tend to go away within a few days with treatment. A stye, in most cases, might require the use of topical antibiotic prescribed by our Burlingame CA ophthalmologist. If you have chalazia and it becomes very swollen, our ophthalmologist may give you a cortisone injection to decrease the swelling. If the stye or chalazia doesn’t heal on its own or through other treatments, we may need to drain the area. We can usually perform the procedure in our office using a local anesthetic. If you notice your stye or chalazia keeps appearing, even after surgery, we may need to biopsy it to check for a more serious problem.